Jaw-advancing, -alignment and -adjusting means for machine-tool vises



April 7, 1959 A. MUGGLI ET AL 2,880,638

JAW-ADVANCING, -ALIGNMENT AND ADJUSTING MEANS FOR MACHINE-TOOL VISES v 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 23, 1956 IN VEN TOR.

LAWRENCE A. MUGGLI VICTOR V. MUG GLI ATTOR N EY April 1959 L. .MUGGLI i-IT AL 2,880,638

1c ENT AND ADJUSTING MEANS MACH TOOL VISES J AW-ADVANC ING FOR FiledNov. 23, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

LAWRENCE A. GGLI I LE 5 VICTOR V. GGLI ATTORNEY United States Patent fJAW-ADVANCING, -ALIGNMENT AND -ADJUST- ING MEANS FOR MACHINE-TOOL VISESLawrence A. Muggli and Victor V. Muggli, Minneapolis, Minn.

Application November 23, 1956, Serial No. 625,206 2 Claims. (Cl. 8133)Our present invention relates to improvements in machine-tool vises orthe like, and is particularly directed to jaw-advancing-and-alignmentmeans for gripping an object having opposite surfaces that are slightlyout of parallel.

One of the principal objects of our invention is to provide a machinevise having a novel means for selfalignment of the movable jaw in alldirections as it clamps a workpiece.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine vise having,upon operation of a jaw-advancing screw, self-alignment means comprisinga spherical segment for taking up vertical play between the jaw bit andvise body, and between the jaw nut and vise body, and for taking upvertical and horizontal play between the jaw bit, the self-alignmentmeans, and the jaw nut.

Other objects of the invention include providing a machine vise that isrelatively inexpensive to manufacture, is of rugged construction, andbeing so designed that it is relatively free of the tendency to trapchips and filings and otherwise is easy to clean. Obviously, theselfalignment features of the vise also are capable of compensating forthe negligible wear that may occur between the parts thereof.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the following specification, claims and appended drawingswhich form a part of this invention. In the accompanying drawings, likecharacters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

We also desire to state herein that the present application is acontinuation-in-part of our copending application, filed November 4,1954, under Serial No. 466,918, now abandoned.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l is a top plan view of on a calibrated turntable;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, without the turntable;

Fig. 3 is a view of the improved vise in central vertical longitudinalsection taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, wherein the jaws are closed;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged scale transverse vertical section taken on theline 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3, except that the jaws are shown inopen position;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary self-aligning assembly; and

Figs. 7 and 8 are plan and side views, respectively, of one of theessential parts of the self-aligning assembly.

The reference character X, see Fig. 1, indicates a conventionalturntable on which the improved vise is mounted in an operating positionand is shown only to illustrate co-operating coolant troughs in the baseflange of the vise and the turntable base flange.

The numeral 11 indicates a relatively heavy rectangular body that islongitudinally elongated and provided with a marginal base fiange 12that extends completely around said body except for a pair of directly 11 the improved vise mounted detail view of a part of the 2,880,638 iatented Apr. 7, 1959 gaps 13 located forwardly of the transverse centerof the body 11. A coolant trough 14 is formed in the upper surface ofthe base flange 12 and is open at its four points of intersection withthe gaps 13 in the base flange 12 to provide for the discharge ofcoolant therefrom. The upper surface of the body 11 is flat, thusaffording a bed 15. A pair of outwardly projecting ears 16 are formedintegral with the body 11 on each side thereof and each car 16 isprovided at its center with a bore 17 through which a long screw orbolt, not shown, extends, for securing the vise to a support.

A rectangular passageway 18 extends completely transversely through thebody 11 at its rear end portion and the bottom of this passageway 18 isflush with the bottom of the coolant trough 14 into which saidpassageway leads. The purpose of this passageway is to permit chips andcuttings from material being held in the vise to pass through saidpassageway and be removed therefrom.

A passageway 19, which is in the form of a channel, extendslongitudinally into the body 11 at its transverse center from the frontend portion thereof and terminates near the rear end portion of saidbody. The bottom of the passageway 19 is parallel to the bed 15 and itsoffset sides 21 and 21' are perpendicular to said bottom. The sides 21define clearance grooves for a jaw nut 22. Outer longitudinallyextending sides of the body 11 define a pair of parallel machined guidesurfaces 20 for overhanging sides of a jaw bit 29.

The relatively long jaw nut 22 extends longitudinally into thepassageway 19 and is spaced slightly above the bottom thereof forclearance and a jaw-advancing screw 23 extends longitudinally into athreaded bore 24 in the jaw nut 22. The jaw-advancing screw 23 isprovided on its rear end with right-hand threads 25 having engagementwith a threaded bore 27 in a block 28 which may be formed integral withthe body 11, and its forward end portion is oppositely threaded at 26for engagement with a threaded bore 24 in the jaw nut 22. The rightandleft-hand-thread sections 25 and 26 impart faster movement to themovable jaw, and a thread differential keeps the advancing screw 23 fromprotruding beyond the front face of the jaw nut 22, thus permitting useof the full working depth of the vise.

The jaw bit 29, to which an interchangeable jaw plate 30 is detachablysecured, engages work to be held in the vise by co-operating with a jawplate 31 which is removably secured to a stationary jaw 32, whichcomprises integral projecting parts of the body 11.

The jaw nut 22 is slidably mounted for longitudinal travel between thesurfaces 21 and 21 forming the sides of the passageway 19 and isactuated for such movement by rotation of the jaw-advancing screw 23. Anouter end portion 28' of the advancing screw is formed so that a crankhandle may be applied thereto.

It will be understood that the foregoing description is brief and it isso intended as the parts thus far named and described comprise theessential feature of a vise described in the afore-mentioned copendingapplication. The construction and arrangement of the movable jaw partshereinafter described constitute the essence of this invention.

The jaw bit 29 is subjected to a camming action by the jaw nut 22,whenever a workpiece is clamped, because a self-aligning element isinterposed between sloping surfaces 33 and 34 provided on the jaw bitand jaw nut, respectively, as will presently be explained. Thesesurfaces 33 and 34 are inclined in the same direction and at equalangles from the horizontal. The incline of these surfaces is of suchangle that a downward and forward wedging action will be imparted to thejaw bit 29 by its co-operating elements as it is pressed against workheld between the jaw plates.

The sloping surface 33 of the jaw bit 29 is formed by cutting a kerf ina forward end portion 35 of the jaw bit 29 upwardly and forwardly on aninclined plane from the lower surface of the jaw bit 29. Similarly, theslop ing surface 34 of the jaw nut 22 constitutes a cam and is formed bykerfing an upper front end portion of a main or central block portion 36of the jaw nut 22 down wardly and rearwardly from the upper surface ofsaid central block portion 36.

It is important to note that when these inclined surfaces 33 and 34 arebrought into overlapping position, there is a provision for clearance,as will presently be described.

Formed in the sloping surface 33 of the jaw bit 25 and slightly belowits horizontal center is a relatively shallow, spherical concave seat 37designed and arranged to receive a hardened pivotal insert 38. Thishardened insert 38 is in elevation, a segment of a sphere, the sphericalportion 39 of which is machined and ground to engage the concavespherical seat 37 to somewhat less than the full depth of the hardenedinsert 38. The opposing surface 40 of the insert 38 is machined fiat andis designed to engage the cam surface 34- of the jaw nut 22. It willthus be seen that with the insert 33 having greater depth than the seat37, clearance between the sloping surfaces 33 and 34 is maintained. Whenthe insert 38 is positioned in the concave seat 3'7, the cam surface 34is brought into engagement with the flat surface 40 of the insert 38.

These relative components are held in such position with close workingtolerance by means of an adjusting screw 41 which has screw-threadedengagement with a longitudinally disposed threaded bore 42 in the rearend portion of the jaw bit 29. With the self-aligning C013: ponents inplace in the vise, the adjusting screw 41 turned inwardly until itimpinges the upwardly projecting rear end portion of the central blockportion 36 of the jaw nut 22 and thus draws the fiat plane surface 4% ofthe hardened insert 38, which is seated in its carriage, the jaw bit 29,into relatively tight working engagement with the cam surface 34 of thejaw not an Under normal operating conditions, no further adjustment ofthe adjusting screw 41 will be required except as may be necessary tocompensate for wear in the component parts.

It will thus be seen that this self-alignment feature afi'ords relativemovement to a small extent and in all directions between the advancingscrew 23, the jaw nut 22 and the jaw bit 29, all of which areco-operating components of the movable jaw assembly.

This self-alignment feature further eliminates all binding actionbetween the advancing screw 23 and the jaw nut 22 when the co-operatingjaw plates 30 and 31 require realignment, as when gripping a workpiecehaving jaw-contacted surfaces that are slightly out of parallel to thecorresponding surfaces of the preceding workpiece.

While there are herein disclosed but a limited number of embodiments ofthe structure, process and product of the invention herein presented, itis possible to produce still other embodiments without departing fromthe inventive concept herein disclosed, and it is desired, therefore,that only such limitations be imposed on the appended claims as arestated herein or required by the prior art.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine vise, a body, a stationary jaw, a movable jaw, means foroperating the movable jaw, said movable jaw comprising a jaw nut and ajaw bit having similarly sloping transverse surfaces, one of whichconstitutes a fiat camming surface, pivotal means interposed betweensaid sloping surfaces and spacing the one from the other, means forguiding the jaw nut, and an adjusting screw threaded in the jaw bit andcontacting the jaw nut to limit play between the jaw bit, pivotal meansand the jaw nut; said pivotal means being a spherical segment, the planesurface thereof being fiat and contacting said flat camming surface.

2. In a machine vise, a body, a stationary jaw, a movable jaw, means foroperating the movable jaw, said movable jaw comprising a jaw nut and ajaw bit having similarly sloping transverse surfaces, one of whichconstitutes a fiat camming surface, pivotal means interposed betweensaid sloping surfaces and spacing the one from the other, means forguiding the jaw nut, and an adjusting screw threaded in the jaw bit andcontacting the jaw nut to limit play between the jaw bit, pivotal meansand the jaw nut, said flat camming surface being formed on the jaw nut,said pivotal means having a convex surface that floats in a co-operatingconcave seat in the sloping surface of the jaw bit, and said pivotalmeans having a plane surface that impinges the cam surface of the jawnut and is adjusted thereto by action of the adjusting screw, saidconcave seat being of slightly lesser depth and diameter than thepivotal means seated therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS499,291 Gury June 13, 1893 2,223,323 Koch Nov. 26, 1940 2,247,656Friedrich July 1, 1941 2,564,138 Walker Aug. 14, 1951

